Providing live commentary so visually impaired people can "see" movies has helped Du Chengcheng emerge from her own dark hours. Kong Xuan / For China Daily

"Recounting movies to people who are visually impaired serves to remind me of my worth, and that - despite the fact that I am disabled - I can still contribute to society," says Du Chengcheng.

The 26-year-old, who has only one leg, describes what is happening on the screen at a cinema established for the visually impaired in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. For the past three years, she says she has described 100 movies for nearly 5,000 blind people and written commentaries on more than 30 movies.

The cinema was founded in the Jiangjiadun community in 2001. Du works at its community work office. The Love of the Hawthorn Tree was the first movie Du had ever "described". After downloading the movie, she watched it 10 times. She even "watched" it with her eyes closed so she could better understand how her audience would experience it without her commentary. Then she spent all seven days of the National Day holiday writing a 10,000 word draft of her commentary.

"I watched the movie again and again and thought about scenes all the time. At night I jumped out of bed and wrote down the words that crossed my mind."

After the lights came on after the screening, she saw that many in the audience were crying, which Du took pride in, as she knew they would have been unable to experience the film so deeply without her commentary.

Gui Yuchun, 51, who lost eyesight because of a brain tumor, regularly visits the cinema. "The last time I had seen a movie was when I was a child. Now 20 years have passed and I can 'see' the movie again, thanks to Du," Gui says.

Du says the job is hard but also satisfying. She now views each movie at least four times, and during her preparations, she will close her eyes and imagine how blind listeners feel and where there might be some confusion. Du incorporates her own emotional reactions in her commentary, which can make them very touching.

She says the choice of movies is quite demanding as the plot and characters have to be realistic and close to social life so they have some kind of resonance with the audience. And the scenes need to be interesting so she can give vivid descriptions. With preparation for each movie taking a week, Du says she feels quite pressured. Nevertheless, she enjoys the job.

Du has suffered from neurofibromas since childhood, and she had to walk with a limp as she grew older. In 2006, she was admitted to Wuhan University of Science and Technology and honored as a Top-Ten Youth as a freshman.

Unfortunately, her illness had changed her life abruptly. She had surgery for the third time when she was a sophomore. However it not only failed but also resulted in a pathological change to her right leg.

There was no other choice but to amputate it. From then on, she has had to rely on a crutch and wheelchair, and she couldn't go back to school.

"That was the darkest day of my life. I had to endure the pain, emotionally and physically, from dawn to dusk."

After a long time spent grieving and suffering, she decided to get on with her life again. She became an assistant helping disabled people in the Jiangjiadun community, and gradually became more confident and developed a stronger character.

As she is now devoted to her job of helping disabled people in the community, Du keeps learning. In 2012, she passed the exams necessary to become a qualified psychological consultant and also those required to become a junior social-work assistant.

From Du's perspective, not only did the exams expand her knowledge, they also boosted her job performance as she is now better able to solve problems more professionally.

Wu Yuanmei, deputy secretary of Jiangjiadun's community work office, says that Du is a "loving angel", as she is always smiling and confident.

"I am really glad that I can embrace this opportunity, and I can bring light to people who are living in the dark. I will keep trying to deliver love and hope," says Du.

liukun@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/20/2014 page5)